China’s One Space successfully launched on May 17 its first private rocket at a launch base in the country’s northwestern region.

The suborbital rocket, OS-X Chongqing Liangjiang Star, traveled 273 kilometers at a speed five times faster than sound, flying along its preset trajectory for 306 seconds.

Bigger strides

“The success of today’s maiden flight actually marks our very first step, which means, for the first time we have launched a newly built rocket with just one blast,” Shu Chang, CEO and co-founder of One Space told China Central Television (CCTV). “Next time we will make bigger strides to take on the challenges such as how to produce 100 rockets at the same time.”

Credit: CCTV/Screengrab

OneSpace was founded in 2015. Shu told China Daily that the rocket company is striving for 10 missions in 2019. “I hope we can become one of the biggest small-satellite launchers in the world,” Shu said.

Added Zhang Jie, a One Space engineer: “I feel so thrilled and excited. My heart kept beating fast. I’m absolutely happy about it, after we have spent so much time, put so much energy into this.”